Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland on the availability of places for unaccompanied children in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Home Office is in ongoing contact with the Northern Ireland Executive at ministerial and official level to discuss participation in the Government’s resettlement schemes.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vulnerable persons have been placed in Northern Ireland as part of the current Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Progress on resettlement in each local authority is indicated in quarterly immigration statistics. The last set of statistics, published on 1 December 2016, showed that 221 Syrians have been resettled in Northern Ireland under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme between October 2015 and September 2016.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a ban on travelling to the UK still applies to US citizen Mr Robert Spencer.
Answered by John Hayes
The Government does not routinely comment on individual immigration cases. As certain information on this particular case has been publicly disclosed, however, I can confirm that on 25 June 2013 the Home Secretary personally directed that Robert Spencer should be excluded from the UK on the grounds that his presence here would not be conducive to the public good.
The Home Secretary considered that Mr Spencer brought himself within scope of the unacceptable behaviours policy by making statements that may foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost was to the public purse of immigration holding and removal centres in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Detention costs are published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are available from the Vote Office
Costs (£,000):
2014-15 £136,926
2013-14 £143,549
2012-13 £132,696
Included in this figure are the accommodation costs - building, staff, catering, bedding – for the services provided under both private contracts and by Central Government. Also included are the cost of holding individuals in police cells, where an individual is subsequently transferred to Immigration Enforcement.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 6 January 2016 to Questions 21298 and 21317 on detention: centres, if she will take steps to collect the information referred to and to publish it on a regular basis.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office has no plans to collect or publish the information referred to in Questions 21298 and 21319. Question 21317 had not been answered when this Question was tabled.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average cost was to the public purse of the (a) detention and (b) deportation of each illegal immigrant in each constituency in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. It cannot be collated, except at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest length of time is that a person has spent in an immigration holding or detention centre in the last five years.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Information on the length of detention has been published since quarter 1 (January to March) 2010.
The longest time a person has been detained in the immigration estate - a foreign criminal who left detention and was returned to Algeria in Q1 2012 - was 2,319 days. The individual in this case had accumulated 14 convictions from 32 offences committed between 1998 and 2004, including - but not limited to - convictions for firearms/ shotguns/offensive weapons, drug offences, offences relating to police/courts/prisons and theft. He was continuously non-compliant with the Home Office and Algerian authorities, using a false identity and nationality, which frustrated attempts to obtain travel documentation to facilitate his deportation. His continued non-compliance, deception and a history of absconding led to detention being prolonged. This information does not include those held in prisons solely under Immigration Act powers.
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people detained in the United Kingdom for immigration purposes, within the Immigration Statistics release on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average duration of stay in an immigration holding or removal centre was in the last year.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The table below shows the latest available information on length of detention, in bands, as at the 30 September 2015. The Home Office publishes length of detention figures in bands as average figures can be skewed by the small number of people detained for longer periods.
People in detention by length of detention | |
as at 30 September 2015: | |
A: 3 days or less | 373 |
B: 4 to 7 days | 278 |
C: 8 to 14 days | 418 |
D: 15 to 28 days | 598 |
E: 29 days to less than 2 months | 773 |
F: 2 months to less than 3 months | 371 |
G: 3 months to less than 4 months | 206 |
H: 4 months to less than 6 months | 189 |
I: 6 months to less than 12 months | 189 |
J: 12 months to less than 18 months | 82 |
K: 18 months to less than 24 months | 36 |
L: 24 months to less than 36 months | 14 |
M: 36 months to less than 48 months | 3 |
N: 48 months or more | 1 |
Total | 3,531 |
Published figures on people detained in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers include those held in short term holding facilities, pre departure accommodation and immigration removal centres. Figures exclude those held in police cells, Prison Service establishments, short term holding rooms at ports and airports (for less than 24 hours), and those recorded as detained under both criminal and immigration powers and their dependants. The period of detention starts when a person first enters the Home Office detention estate. If the person is then moved from a removal centre to a police cell or Prison Service establishment, this period of stay will be included if the detention is solely under Immigration Act powers. | |
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people detained in the United Kingdom for immigration purposes, within the Immigration Statistics release on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the greatest number of times is that a person has been admitted to an immigration holding or removal centre having been previously removed from the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been re-admitted to an immigration holding or removal centre having been previously removed from the UK in the last three years.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.